78 BULLETIN 1017, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



lighter. As the valley develops and more complete protection from 

 floods becomes necessary, the construction of reservoirs on some of 

 the tributaries may be desirable. 



LEVEES. 



The physical features of the Eed River channel and valley are 

 fairly well suited to the levee method of flood protection, and good 

 results could be obtained by the proper location and construction of 

 levees. However, there are several reasons for concluding that the 

 adoption of this plan is not at present advisable, except possibly in 

 certain reaches of the river. 



To secure complete protection under all conditions, it would be 

 necessary to construct levees from 5 feet to 20 feet in height along 

 both sides of the greater part of the channel. In addition, it would 

 be necessary to levee most of the tributary streams for considerable 

 distances above their outlets. The enormous yardage of earthwork 

 involved in such operations and the difficulty and expense of obtain- 

 ing right of way, especially through the cities and towns, would run 

 the cost high above that of other methods only slightly less effective. 



It has been shown that, although floods may occur at any point 

 along the Red River during the spring months, and although above 

 the Sheyenne River the Red River may during the summer reach 

 stages that are damaging to property within the outer high banks, it 

 is altogether unlikely that any trouble from high-river stages will 

 occur below the mouth of the Sheyenne except during March, April, 

 and the early part of May. It is shown in the following paragraphs 

 that by means of stream diversion and channel improvement the dam- 

 age from summer flow above the mouth of the Sheyenne can be elimi- 

 nated, and that the spring floods along the entire length of the river, 

 except in the case of ice gorges, can be so reduced that no serious 

 inundation of the adjacent land will occur. The overflows do not 

 attain damaging velocities, and in spring they occur at a time when 

 the only resulting damage to crops is a delay in the spring seeding. 

 Moreover, with the increase in rates of flow, due to possible improve- 

 ments in the channel, the water cover would be shallow, of short 

 duration, and of rare occurrence ; therefore it seems evident that the 

 great expense involved in a complete levee system woyld not be war- 

 ranted at the present time. 



As the country becomes more thickly settled, conditions may make' 

 the construction of levees advisable along certain stretches of the 

 channel where complete elimination of flooding is not to be secured 

 by other means. In this connection it would be well if all buildings 

 and other construction of a permanent nature could be kept at least 

 300 feet back from stream banks in order to provide the space neces- 

 sary for the waterway and embankments should such construction be 



